Social Media

The New Propeller: Even Less Visible News

Propeller, the Digg-like clone which was formerly the front page of Netscape, has undergone a redesign, moving away from Netscape color scheme and into red-lightblue-white territory. It even features a new omnipresent mascot, while traditional up-down voting is gone, replaced by ratings (currently all are 10.0 because the site just went live) which prop your story to the top.

However, I believe that a site like Digg must focus its design and usability around the actual news. And, on Propeller 2.0, there is very little news to be seen: on my 19'' screen with a 1280x1024 resolution, I see exactly one and a half news items on the front page. On Digg, I see 6 (plus 10 or so items on the right hand side). On Reddit, I see 13.

It might seem petty, but I think it is essential for a Digg-like site to offer as much actual news items as possible to its users. Propeller seems to have gone the way of Yahoo Buzz, which to me, basically says: we (AOL) are a huge company, and we need a Digg clone. But, we don't want to confuse the non-nerdy audience, so we're going to make the site seem as plain and simple as possible.

Wrong. Users who create communities around sites like these love their news organized. They love being able to quickly scan a lot of items. If I'm correct on this one, they will hate what Propeller has done with the design. On the other hand, the possibility for a Propeller item to show up on AOL home page (thus bringing a LOT of traffic) will surely look nice to publishers, which won't waste any time to seize the opportunity.

As far as other options and features go, there's nothing revolutionary here. Editors are still here, categories are few: News, Arts & Entertainment, Business & Finance, Humor, Family, Sports, Style and Science and Technology. Socialize is a fun section, bringing statistics about Top Submitters, Top Commenters, Most Active Members, New Members and the like. It's all fine and dandy, but this site will not draw new users with features and design, but perhaps with the lure of some AOL-flavored traffic. We'll see if that's enough to bring its traffic nearer to competitors such as Digg.

What's Hot

More in Social Media

What's New

What's Rising

What's Hot

Mashable
is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.